The San Francisco 49ers have already clinched a playoff berth, ensuring their 2023 campaign extends beyond Week 18. The team also won its division, guaranteeing they open the playoffs at home. However, the primary goal remains securing the top seed in the NFC and home-field advantage, earning a first-round bye in the playoffs and making the path to Super Bowl 58 as smooth as possible.
To achieve this, San Francisco may need to win its final two games, a necessity following Monday night's loss to the Baltimore Ravens. There is a scenario where the 49ers can secure home-field advantage this weekend, but it is contingent on them beating the Washington Commanders paired with the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles losing their games.
The 49ers can't afford to underestimate the Commanders or next weekend's opponent, the Los Angeles Rams.
"We have to win these two games in the next—I'm losing my math—nine days, whatever it is," head coach Kyle Shanahan told Adam Copeland during an interview on Bay Area radio station KNBR. "... We need that first-round bye, and that's what we expect to get. And in order to do that, we need to win these two games.
"I look at it as the Rams game doesn't matter if we don't win this one, so we got to get this one. And when I look at this team, they've been down a lot in these last two games, and they made a quarterback change in both of those. And the guys come in and have taken care of the ball, and the other guy didn't take care of the ball and he turned it over."
The Commanders benched quarterback Sam Howell this past weekend against the New York Jets. His replacement, Jacoby Brissett, nearly orchestrated a comeback, falling just short.
While Commanders head coach Ron Rivera announced Brissett would start against the 49ers, a recent development has Brissett listed as "questionable" due to a hamstring injury sustained in Washington's Friday practice.
Of course, that development was after the conversation with Shanahan, which was recorded on Thursday and aired on Friday.
"This guy's (Brissett) come in and hasn't turned it over and he's just gotten rid of it," Shanahan continued. "And they have a lot of good players on offense—their skill receivers, their running back who hasn't played in the last three weeks, who I'm expecting to play this week. Those guys are a problem. They can make plays, and they can score.
"And yes, they not having [DEs Montez] Sweat and Chase [Young], that is a very good thing for us. I'm very glad that they don't have them, but their two inside players can wreck a game. When you have [DTs] Jonathan Allen and [Daron Payne] Payne, those guys, that's where it started last year when we played them. When they did have Sweat and Chase on the outside, it still started with those two inside players.
"So, I know they're out of it, and that's why you hope that a team isn't playing as hard and things like that. But when you watch how they finished these last two games, when Brissett's come in, and you hear the type of guy Brissett is, and how this team can rally, the type of coach Ron is, and those guys aren't going to quit on him. And I know they're going to come here ready to play.
"We had an emotional loss last week. We've got to make sure that we're ready to go, and we got to get down to Washington and take care of business."